The first chosen designer of the limited edition series was Tom Dixon, a self-taught British designer specialising in Lighting, Furniture and Accessories. Dixon's interpretations are devised from a more industrialist viewpoint – a well suited approach to Lacoste’s penchant for producing well-engineered textile products as well as his own extensive background in product and furniture design.
Primarily concerned with the ‘provenance and craft’ of manufactured materials, Dixon’s visits to Nigeria and India and the unique hand-dyeing techniques he witnessed there reportedly helped inspire his versions of the polo shirt. Eco Polo relies on chemical-free indigo dyes and rougher edges on its sleeves for its hip, slightly ‘distressed’ appeal.
As for the packaging, Dixon worked in collaboration with design consultancy Mind Design. Dixon's concept was to package the polo in the most eco-friendly way - this being to package the eco polo using embossing for typographic information as opposed to the use of any inks for printing. The packaging material itself appears as heavy recycled cardboard, a popular choice for initiatives concerned with sustainability. Additionally, tags for the garment also use heavy recycled card and embossing for cohesive use of materials across limited edition collateral.
This collaboration is a prime example of the achievable potential to create sustainable packaging with a luxury feel that would be accepted by consumers of high-end products as a result of finishing and aesthetic, or at least would encourage a greater consumer sector of environmentally aware/concerned high-end consumers. The packaging encourages the détournement of typical luxury aesthetics by re-appropriating recycled, sustainable materials through use within an alternative sector of semiotic acceptance. Dixon's interpretation does not attempt to antithesise the two sectors, sustainability and luxury, but instead bring them together to form a new potential sector of high-end consumption.
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